THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH

BIBLE CLASS STYLE LESSONS.

Romans 1:16-17 For I am
not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation
for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.
17 For in it the righteousness of
God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The
just shall live by faith.”

All articles are written
using the NKJV, unless
otherwise noted! All articles are written by David Hicks, unless specified
otherwise.

Witnesses to Me

To The End of the Earth!

- A Study
In Acts-

Chapter Nineteen –
Third Journey of Paul

ACTS 19:11-20:

We actually began the third journey in
Chapter 18:23. Paul returned from the second journey to Antioch
of Syria and then went out again to the region of
Galatia
and
Phrygia
strengthening the brethren in these locations; Luke tells us.

Paul has
come to
Ephesus
and has met and worked with disciples of the coming Messiah by the work of
John the Baptist. He would now more accurately explain the way of God
through Jesus Christ to them (see: Acts
18:26). Paul would continue to work in the synagogues of the Jews
for 3 months; however, when some were hardened, he went to the school of
Tyrannus and continued to teach from this singular location for two years,
successfully bringing the Gospel’s truth to all of Asia. We will now look
into some of the events that transpire here during these two years.

Text #1:

Acts 19:11-12
“Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul,
12so
that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick,
and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them.”

Unusual
Miracles: I would
challenge anyone to think of a single miracle recorded in scripture and
testified of by eyewitnesses to be anything but unusual by their very
existence; however, here Luke records that these miracles even went further
out of the common core of miracles being performed. These miracles do;
however, share with the miracles of our Lord recorded in
Mark
6:56 (where just the hem of His garment might heal those
brought); and in Acts
5:15 (where just the shadow of Peter passing by might heal those
on whom it fell).

Once again,
notice the power of these miracles, in that diseases and evil spirits went
out of them in the presence of many witnesses. There were no
receiving lines to predetermine worth or faith, and the results we will read
in vs.
18-20 are the powerful convicted surety of God in Jesus Christ.

Text #2:

Acts 19:13-16
“Then
some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the
name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “We exorcise
you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches.”
14Also
there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did so.

15And
the evil spirit answered and said, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who
are you?”

16Then
the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, and
prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and
wounded.”

Itinerant
Jewish Exorcists: The term
“Itinerant”, is from the Greek,
“Perierchomai”, which simply means, ‘to go about’; and is
additionally translated as “strolling” or “Vagabond”. These were traveling
Jews, who went from place to place, making a living by using spells, magic
words, and incantations to expel supposed evil spirits.

Uniquely
enough, this was something condemned by the Law of Moses, and in fact God
set Himself against any such behavior –
Numbers 19:26-31; 20:6(these were the sons of a chief priest of the Jews, Luke records, to
show the perversion of the Law by those who claimed to know and follow it).

Call the
Name of the Lord Jesus: Since these
individuals made their living by seeking certain words that they believed
had magical properties, they used the name that Paul glorified in the
performance of miracles that were performed by him. This is emphasized by
Luke with this statement, “We
exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches.”

The Evil
Spirit Pushes Back: Even though
this is enjoyable reading (I do not wish to make light, but I have never
been able to read this without laughter), let us not forget that with God
there is always purpose and order. The miracles performed by Jesus were done
to confirm that He had been sent by God –
Acts
2:22. The miracles of the Apostles were done to confirm that the
word they spoke was truly from God – Mark
16:20. The statement from this nefarious source demands that we
appreciate the unity in the source of singular authority that confirms the
great name Paul is preaching for salvation. Not only does this evil spirit
know Jesus the Christ of God, but additionally, he knows the Apostle of
Jesus Christ who has been sent to preach His name.

This is a
demonstration of the name that God has given Jesus, that every knee must bow
–
Philippians 2:10; and any source that attempts to use His Name
for anything contrary to God’s intent, should be accursed –
Galatians 1:8-9.

Finally,
this single man jumped on these seven brothers, overpowered them, and sent
them out into the streets naked and wounded; for all to see!

Text #3:

Acts 19:17-20
“This became known both to all Jews and Greeks dwelling
in Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was
magnified.
18And
many who had believed came confessing and telling their deeds.
19Also,
many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and
burned them in the sight of all. And they counted up the value of
them, and it totaled fifty thousand pieces of silver.
20So
the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed.”

Became
Known to All: Here we see
the effect of the true power of the Lord, and the universal result in stark
contrast to those claiming power, but were truly impostors. Here we also see
the pure intent of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, to glorify the name that is
above every name!

Books
Burned: In addition
to the now wide spread fame of the power of the Lord Jesus Christ, many
believed in Him, and that demanded that they cease and desist from all evil
practices. This is emphasized by Luke demonstrating that this change in mind
and behavior was costly (something not easily walked away from, unless they
were truly converted to know better).

The value
of the books that were destroyed because of their evil content, was fifty
thousand pieces of silver. The best way to describe the value is to know
that one piece of silver was considered a day’s wages. This would be about
the equivalent of 40 people’s wages, each working 3 and a quarter years,
every single day without a day off, to obtain this single sum.

The Word of
the Lord Grew: In the
summary, we have the confirmation of the true purpose of these miracles; to
confirm the word. These miracles were not dome to promote men, or even the
miracle in and of itself. Instead it focused the true understanding that the
words of Paul carried the weight of God through Jesus Christ the King. This
was Paul’s commission in the world, note His words to the Roman Christians:

Romans 1:1-5
“Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be
an apostle, separated to the gospel of God
2which
He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures,
3concerning
His Son Jesus Christ our Lord,
who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh,
4and
declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of
holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.
5Through
Him we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among
all nations for His name”